Monday, July 18, 2011

It is July in Florida and the heat is overwhelming! But the construction of the new Usonian building moves along. The Florida Southern Tourism and Education Center is now called the Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center. There is a nice article in the July 16thLakeland Ledger about the new building. There are over forty different styles of concrete blocks being made for the building in North Brookfield, Massachusetts.

Monday, June 6, 2011

The first Usonian home that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright was the Herbert Jacobs house in Madison, Wisconsin. The house was a modest 1500 square feet and was built for $5500. The Usonian design was Wright’s solution to a small house problem as he saw it. The Jacobs house, like most of the other Usonian houses Wright designed incorporated natural materials, such as low priced concrete block, wood and brick; was one story, had no storage areas (no attics, basements and a carport for a garage) and had radiant heating in the floors. Almost all of the Usonian homes featured spacious outdoor patios. They were a uniquely American design for the average family.

The construction of the visitor's center is moving along. There is a Wright block right near the fence that suggests what the building will look like on completion.